We did similar Lynda but the trenches were laid with a tyre system forming a tunnel and it worked brilliantly for draining low lying and wet areas. It's so handy having an on-farm excavator! Loving your photos.

That's an interesting way of doing drainage. I would imagine it would be cheaper than laying concrete pipes, but probably a fair bit more fiddley. Our main supply channel is going above these drainage pipes so making it water tight is crucial.

The "on-farm" excavator is only for a day or two. We hire it as required.

Your dirt is so red...is it clay or what? Are you/your hubby/family operating the machinery or do you have to hire someone to do it? (Ignor the last if you think it is too nosy.) Just sort of wondered. I know around here you can rent some stuff and operate it yourself, but not sure about something this big.

Our soils range from sand to heavy clay. This particular site is red loam over sand. As for the excavator - we pay an hourly rate for the hire of the machine and it comes with an experienced operator. We could hire it and operate ourselves, but you can't beat an experienced operator for getting the job done in a timely manner, and getting it done the right way the first time!